Tax Protestor Sentenced to 15 Months

Tax protestor Larken Rose of Hollywood, Pa., was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison for failing to file tax returns for the years 1998 to 2002, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service announced.

In compliance with the ruling at his August trial, Rose submitted delinquent tax returns for the years 1997 to 2004, and paid a substantial deposit to the IRS toward his outstanding tax liability. The court sentenced Rose to one year of supervised release following his prison term and ordered Rose to pay a fine of $10,000 plus all taxes, interest and penalties he owes to the IRS.

Rose, a former co-owner of a medical transcription business, was convicted by a jury in August of five counts of willfully failing to file federal income tax returns. The evidence at trial established that Rose did not file returns for 1998 to 2002 despite earning $500,000 in income during those years. Rose claimed that he did not file returns for those five years because he believed that income he earned in the U.S. was not taxable according to the Internal Revenue Code.

The prosecutor submitted evidence that showed Rose received more than a dozen notices from the IRS rejecting his Section 861 argument and that he received more than 10 letters from members of Congress notifying him that his Section 861 argument was invalid.On Nov. 9, in a separate trial, a jury found Rose's wife and business partner, Tessa David, guilty of willfully failing to file tax returns for 1998 to 2002. She is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 15, 2006.